📸 Must he go down for a penalty? Simeone incident sparks fury

After Arsenal took the lead through Bukayo Saka, Atlético have to take more risks in the second half if they want to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive. The Rojiblancos need a goal to force extra time. 

After a long ball, Giuliano Simeone had a huge chance to equalise. Saliba misjudged the flight of the ball and his headed backpass was intercepted by the Atlético attacker before it could even reach the goalkeeper. Simeone cleverly nudged the ball past him and looked set to tap it in.

But he was put under heavy pressure by the recovering Gabriel and stumbled as a result. The replay clearly shows the Brazilian using his hand on the striker’s shoulder to knock him off balance. 

📸 Shaun Botterill - 2026 Getty Images

📸 Shaun Botterill - 2026 Getty Images

📸 ADRIAN DENNIS - AFP or licensors

Simeone stayed on his feet, though, and still tried to put the ball into the empty net. The question is: would German referee Daniel Siebert have pointed to the spot if the Argentine had gone down? At the very least, a VAR review also resulted in no intervention and no change to the decision. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.